Build my 500

67temp · Nov 28, 2016

I have this Mossberg 500 laying around that I paid under $100 before shipping and ffl fee. It is 12ga with a 28” vent rib barrel with c-lect choke. The issues are the stock is cracked, the choke setting plate is missing, and the front bead is missing which also holds the end of the rib down. I have a spare stock set (pre-recoil pad) and a 30” vent rib fixed full choke barrel laying around too. The action has been cleaned and internals polish so it runs smooth now.

How would you build this gun? It doesn’t really have to serve and specific purpose. I’ve thought about something tactical but a friend pointed out that tactical isn’t really my style. I’ve thought about an ugly duckling build like with duct or electrical tape wrapped around it or take some same paper to the stock, maybe even a torch some… basically make it look rougher that it already is. I could also do a pimptastic build and paint the parts gold and chrome. Or just paint the whole thing matte black with some Hogue OD furniture. I’m open to any other suggestions no matter how goofy they may seem.

These are my other 500 setups
1. Turkey gun – 12 ga, camo 24” VR barrel with vortex venom and aftermarket choke
2. Slug gun – 12ga, wood/blued, 24” cantilever barrel, 3-9x scope
3. Trap gun – 12ga, black syn stock/matte finish, 28” vr and ported barrel
4. HD gun – 12ga, wood/blued, 20” barrel cyl.
5. Wife gun – 20 ga, camo, rifled and field barrel combo
6. Spare – 20ga, wood/blued, 26” field and 24” rifled cantilever barrel combo.

Oddway Otts · Nov 28, 2016

You could make a nice home defender (cheap enough to be a "throw-away"). Cut the barrel off at 19 inches and install a bead sight on the rib. Take off the stock and put a John Mason (Black Warrior brand) pistol grip on it and then spray it all matte black. It would be a quick to sight, easy to handle home defender with whatever you'd normally use in a cylinder bore barrel. You could also add a barrel clamp and light. I like the Mason pistol grip because it is thick and almost 90 degrees to the receiver. It makes you hold the gun up, almost at a high ready, rather than a T.V. shoot-from-the-hip hold, for a quick shot. Rumor has it that I may have such a creature, kept with low recoil #1 buckshot.

doggyjacket · Nov 28, 2016

https://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=202449

Overboost44 · Nov 28, 2016

Interested to see what you come up with. I have one that I paid $120 for at an auction and it is in nice condition, but I want to convert to an HD gun. That Magpul kit is a consideration, but I would like something shorter than that stock.

jimbobborg · Nov 29, 2016

I had that shotgun without the rib. I kind of miss the quick choke change with that goofy setup. I'd just get a new stock and be done with it.

67temp · Nov 29, 2016

Oddway Otts said:
You could make a nice home defender (cheap enough to be a "throw-away"). Cut the barrel off at 19 inches and install a bead sight on the rib.

#4 on my list was a gun I got for less than this one. Cleaned it, and took steel wool to the rust then cut the barrel down. Pistol grips seem like they might go better with the safety of the maverick 88's. Which might be my next build. :innocent0

The Magpul furniture is very tempting.

doggyjacket · Dec 1, 2016

Where have you gotten your guns if you don't mind me asking? I have some wood furniture and a spare action tube laying around since I put the magpul on mine and I'd like to get a receiver and barrel and put together a Mossberg for my brother, but I'm not looking to spend a ton.

Biggfoot44 · Dec 2, 2016

Ok, anything you do will run the risk of being somewhat redundant, given your stable of M500's .

Simplest - Fix crack, or use other stock . Get replacement marker for choke device, or make some reference marks of your own. Replace either gold bead or fibre optic. Touch up bbl with either good cold blue , or gun specific (black) spray bomb of your choice.

Other - Stock as above. Send out bbl for installation of PolyChoke, with shortened to +/- 22in, wherever comes out with vent rib post.
It might seem duplication of your #4 , but not so much. The adjustable choke device adds weight at the end of the bbl, equivalent to 4 inch of bbl length. Ie, a 26in with adjustable choke device balances sumilar to a 30 inch. So a 22in would be pleasingly short, yet balance similar to a 26inch, and be able to have desired degree of choke for anything short of hard core turkey choke.

67temp · Dec 2, 2016

doggyjacket said:
Where have you gotten your guns if you don't mind me asking? I have some wood furniture and a spare action tube laying around since I put the magpul on mine and I'd like to get a receiver and barrel and put together a Mossberg for my brother, but I'm not looking to spend a ton.

I don't mind. I really have gotten them all over the place and normally I look for rough condition guns since I like tinkering with them. $200 is my personal limit when buying a 500, so I keep that amount handy for when a bargain appears. #2 came from a pawn shop in the city for $160, 4 was an IP for $75 in rough condition, 6 was from here for around $200, and this one was on gunbroker with no bids for $95 but add shipping and ffl it ended up being $160ish. All the others had been bought new many years ago.

6Den · Dec 3, 2016

doggyjacket said:
Where have you gotten your guns if you don't mind me asking? I have some wood furniture and a spare action tube laying around since I put the magpul on mine and I'd like to get a receiver and barrel and put together a Mossberg for my brother, but I'm not looking to spend a ton.

Check your PM. I might be able to help you out.

67temp · Dec 19, 2016

So since this gun was already well used and cheap I decided to just go with keeping it cheap and ugly. Function over form! Total spent fixing was about $10 it's now a beater field gun I don't care if it gets dinged or scratched.

1. The rib got heated up then bent back straight. I picked up some 5-40 socket cap screws. I used one of those to hold the rib in place while I gave it a little tack weld.

2. I cut the shank down on one of the socket cap screws. Then used the head of the screw as a front bead after it was painted orange.

3. Since the choke setting plate was missing I used a caliper to measure some known factory chokes. Adjust the c-lect choke to the right diameter and marked the setting.

4. The split in the stock got pried open some and filled with wood glue. I used duct tape to keep pressure on it while it dried. I left the tape on the stock to give it a nice bubba look.

Magnumite · Jan 2, 2017

I'll say this. I had a 500 very similar to that sans the rib with a steel butt plate. Fired it with birdshot, 00 buck and 3" one ounce slug loads. I am not recoil sensitive and always thought, "piece of cake".
Got into tactical shot gun. Cut the barrel to 21", squared it, drill and tapped the barrel to reset the bead. Head down to the local indoor range, run the target down range, loaded up with 3 one ounce slugs and touched one off. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!", I thought to myself. My cheek and shoulder were ready to call family protective services. "Must have been loose on the gun". Hunkered down on it proper and touched off another slug round. "F___ me!". Walked into the lobby, went to the metchandise board, found a proper size slip on butt pad. Reloaded, touched off a third slug load...much more better. The weight cut off of the barrel made that much difference.

My input...use a good butt pad

Build my 500

The #1 community for Gun Owners of the Northeast

Member Benefits:

67temp

Active Member

Attachments

Oddway Otts

Active Member

doggyjacket

Ultimate Member

Overboost44

6th gear

jimbobborg

Oddball caliber fan

67temp

Active Member

Attachments

doggyjacket

Ultimate Member

Biggfoot44

Ultimate Member

67temp

Active Member

6Den

Active Member

67temp

Active Member

Magnumite

Ultimate Member

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Latest threads

Forum statistics

Share this page